95 Ukrainian POWs Come Home

Ninety-five Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) were returned from Russian captivity for an equal number of Russians in a prisoner swap Friday.

Among those freed were soldiers who defended Mariupol and Azovstal, Donetsk region, Luhansk region, Kharkiv region, Kyiv region, Chernihiv region, and Kherson region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wrote in an overnight Facebook post.

Prominent Ukrainian rights activist, co-founder of the independent Hromadske radio station and Ukraine serviceman Maksym Butkevych was among those freed in the swap, the human rights center Zmina said, citing Maksym’s father, Oleksandr Butkevych. 

Friday’s 190-person prisoner swap was brokered by the United Arab Emirates. Hundreds of prisoners have been exchanged since the launch of Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many in deals brokered by the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

The Ukrainian POWs released had received “verdicts” from the Russian judicial system and had been “sentenced” to prison terms for alleged crimes. 

The Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War stated that 69 soldiers and sergeants and 26 officers were freed.

“Many of our discharged boys have serious illnesses and the consequences of severe injuries, and severe weight loss due to torture and malnutrition,” the statements reads. “This is the 58th medical exchange organized by the Coordination Headquarters. As a result of our work, 3,767 people have been freed from enemy captivity.”

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